Ambassador of the People’s Republic of South Africa, Wu Peng has commended the South African government for championing the One-China Policy which was reiterated by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his recent two-legged trip to Beijing.
IOL reported earlier this month that during his Beijing tour, Ramaphosa repeatedly emphasized that the Government of National Unity formed after the May 29 general elections does not “dilute” Pretoria’s long-held position which assets that that there is only one sovereign State under the name China, with the People’s Republic of China’s serving as the sole legitimate government of that China, and Taiwan as an inalienable part of China.
Ramaphosa invited several high-ranking Cabinet ministers on his Beijing tour, including Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen who is also leader of the Democratic Alliance, to accompany him on the State Visit to China, and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit.
Ramaphosa went further, telling journalists in Beijing that even his ministers who did not believe in the One-China Policy had suddenly made a u-turn.
“Last night I had the opportunity to inform him (President Xi Jinping) that even one of the leaders of the parties that we are now joined with in the government of national unity, who initially was not so well disposed to One-China Policy, after having visited China for the very first time, and for the very first time as one of my ministers, publicly said he now subscribes and embraces one-China policy,” he said.
“President Xi Jinping was rather pleased with that and said this confirms the good decisions that we took, to take South Africa into a new era, an era of cooperative governance, working together with other political parties where we would jointly advance the interests of South Africa.”
Ramaphosa said during his engagement with the Chinese leadership, the political developments within South Africa had been fully explicated to the Chinese counterparts.
Reacting to Ramaphosa’s historic visit, the Chinese ambassador said Pretoria’s consistent upholding of the One-China Policy was highly appreciated.
“China highly appreciates South Africa’s reiteration of its commitment to the One-China Policy, acknowledging that there is only one China, that the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate government of China, and that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. China also appreciates South Africa’s support for our efforts toward national reunification,” Wu told the National Press Club event in Pretoria.
At the event, the Chinese diplomat also interacted with several representatives of South African media who toured China for Ramaphosa’s State Visit and the ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit.
“All of our friends present today represent the bridges that will bring hope to China-Africa people-to-people exchanges,” he said at the event also attended by officials from the Presidency and the Government Communications and Information Systems (GCIS).
“I am confident that our friends in the media will make full use of your strengths, continue to closely follow the development of China-Africa and China-South Africa relations, and deliver more comprehensive and objective coverage of the cooperation between our nations. Together, we can help build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.”
Wu said the FOCAC Summit held in Beijing from September 4 to 6 was a “great” success.
“This gathering marked yet another important reunion for the China-Africa family after the previous summits in 2006, 2015, and 2018. It was also the largest diplomatic event China has hosted in recent years, with the highest number of foreign leaders in attendance. A total of 51 African heads of State and government came to Beijing,” he said.
“I have worked on Africa-related affairs for nearly a decade. I had the privilege of attending several forum meetings and witnessed the impressive growth of the forum. FOCAC has become a guiding force in international cooperation with Africa.”
In a historic move, President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping announced unprecedented financial support packages, valued at $50.7 billion (around R904 billion), in different forms for the African continent when he met the heads of State this month at FOCAC Summit in Beijing.
Xi told the auspicious opening ceremony of the Forum, at the Great Hall of the People, that in the next three years, China will work with Africa to take the ten partnership actions for modernisation to deepen China-Africa cooperation and spearhead the Global South modernisation.
China and Africa account for one-third of the world population, and Xi said without China-Africa modernisation, there will be no global modernisation.
IOL